<p>I only know one student that went to Bucknell and he graduated last year with an engineering degree. He is now at grad school there.</p>
<p>From their web site: Tuition and fees for 2006-07 are estimated at $43,368, including $35,802 for tuition, $7,366 for room and board, and $200 for student fees. They also list numerous Scholarships and fellowships but I don't know how many are available for transfer students.</p>
<p>• Ranked 7th top undergraduate engineering program among U.S. non-Ph.D.-granting schools.</p>
<p>It's reputation is one of those, "work hard, play hard" schools. Lots of smart kids that drink.... It does have four of your qualifications - skiing/snowboarding nearby, rural area, excellent reputation for engineering major and good guy to girl ratio. </p>
<p>I agree with jmmom about starting another thread with school names in the title since your son is placing more of a priority on the feel of a place then the engineering major. </p>
<p>Isn't the deadline for transfer students soon? If your son has narrowed his choices down to four or five schools, why not just apply to all of them now and then see where he is accepted?</p>
<p>I'm not sure why you son doesn't want to look at Penn State, but I have a feeling it might be just what he is looking for...PSU is good in engineering, rural, has snow sports, has a good mix of students and a ton of school spirit for the "ultimate" college experience. He will certainly not feel "boxed in" at Penn State University Park. We visited it a few years ago and I must say that no other college we saw was like Penn State.</p>
<p>Oh, I just noticed that there is an engineering open house at PSU on Saturday February 24 from 8:00-12:30. My son went to this and it was very informative, as well as offering access to visit the various departments within the school of engineering.</p>
<p>I agree with lkf725 that PSU might be just what he is looking for. It fills all of his criteria except maybe the under $30k one. The COA (tuition, fees, room and board) this year for OOS students was $30,112. (The cost included local telephone, cable, and high speed internet service.) Books and supplies were extra. </p>
<p>It looks like PSU has a rolling admissions for transfer students. I would think the time has passed for investigating schools and encourage your son, puff-o-smoke, to apply to schools. Because of PSU's large satelittle campuses with many students enrolling at the main campus their junior year, this would be one school where sending in the application sooner rather then later makes a difference. </p>
<p>Frankly, I think Puff-o-smoke that you want your son to enroll at UMass or another name brand school and get the same merit aid that he got at Stevens. I don't know if that's possible. It takes about two minutes to find the cost of any school, just google "name of school, tuition". I think even neophytes to the college search could probably tell you though, that if you are looking for a well regarded engineering school in the northeast or New England, $30,000 would be a bargain. If cost is a priority and time is of the essence, then applying to the publics your son is interested in NOW would be a very good idea, and throw in a private like Bucknell and see what happens.</p>
<p>
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Frankly, I think Puff-o-smoke that you want your son to enroll at UMass or another name brand school and get the same merit aid that he got at Stevens. I don't know if that's possible.
[/quote]
This is so true. One of the first things we all learn is that merit aid finds you when your kid chooses a school which is a notch <em>below</em> where s/he could be accepted, not at the reach or biggest name schools. These schools can still be excellent, but they will not be in the top of the USN&WR and other rankings. They can be ranked reasonably high and well-respected, but not at the top.</p>
<p>My S had great merit $$ from Tulane (ranked #43ish overall and in the top 100 but not top 50 for Engineering at the time). When he had to transfer after Katrina-related elimination of his major, he chose JHU (ranked #13 overall). We pay full freight for that school.</p>
<p>I have said before that the full list of criteria puff~ and his son have tend to leave us with a null set. Therefore, if he's going to leave Stevens, he needs to be willing to choose a different school, better on some dimensions (eg, size/atmosphere/male-female ratio/location), but he won't get better on all dimensions. I don't think he can achieve the goal of equally or better-ranked, better male-female ratio, rural, in the Northeast and cheaper than what they are currently paying.</p>
<p>Hey all, Thanks again for everybody's help.</p>
<p>Sorry that I've been a bit busy with work and such lately, haven't had much time to write.</p>
<p>At this point, my son has pretty much decided upon UMass. These are the reasons he gives me for wanting to attend:</p>
<p>1.) Rural
2.) Large and very diverse (in people and majors)
3.) A chance at getting into their honors program
4.) Somewhat of a chance at a scholarship
5.) His sister lives in the area and cousin is currently attending
6.) Less expensive than Stevens (although maybe thats more my reason than his)
7.) Close to snowboarding, hiking, and many of the other outdoor activities he likes
8.) Not too far from home but no longer in NJ, where he wanted to get away from (only around 3.5 hrs or so, maybe even a little less)
9.) MUCH better girl to guy ratio at 50/50 (compared to Stevens at 25/75)
10.) Less overall involvement in fraternities (which he's not into and is very rampant on the Stevens campus)
11.) More of a campus feel (UMASS has an actual and large campus)
12.) A more normal/typical college experience
13.) More activity on campus (i.e. events, a hockey team, a football team, etc.)
14.) Ranked higher in USNWR Top Engineering Programs where Doctorate is the highest level of achievement (53 vs. 92(at Stevens))
15.) And I think, Most of all, a change, a new experience, and a better environment</p>
<p>All this being said, I want to be a good father and make sure he's not missing anything. I want to be sure he's not rushing head first into something that he wont like or isn't ready for. I've talked to him a number of times about applying to other schools but the fact of the matter is that he's not really very interested (if at all). The way he puts it is that "if I get into UMASS and also those other programs I think its at least a 90% chance I'll choose UMASS, and I'm almost 100% sure I'll at least get into UMASS". In any event, any more info on the school would be much appreciated (rankings, reputations, acedotes, ANYTHING that could give us further insight). Thanks again to everyone. Cheers! :)</p>
<p>It sounds like UMass would make both son and dad happy. Go for it.
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I want to be sure he's not rushing head first into something that he wont like or isn't ready for.
[/quote]
It's the right sentiment, but just not totally possible. DS applied to 10 or 11 schools for transfer. Was accepted to all but 1. He had two "top choices" - one was the rejection, the other an acceptance. He's at that school. He really doesn't love it the way he loved his previous. Hindsight could say that he/we didn't check out the right things, etc. etc. But sometimes you just don't know. And... it may grow on him. At any rate, he appreciates the excellence of the school. It sounds like your S has enough direct and indirect experience with UMass to be fairly sure it will work better for him than Stevens.</p>